{UAH} Uganda's radiotherapy machine​ has broken – but crowdfunding isn't the fix | World news | The Guardian

But the breakdown is just a glimpse into Uganda's ailing healthcare system. As well intentioned as it is to privately fund a new machine, it's a dangerous route which denies average citizens the agency to hold their government to account. 

We can't crowdfund our right to healthcare, and we should not pay for the cancer treatments for 2,000 patients ourselves, thereby giving our government a pass on their responsibility to provide us with basic services. 

Though it's commonplace to see calls in the media and on social platforms from desperate Ugandans seeking donations to go for surgery in Kenya, India or South Africa, this cannot be another of these cases. It would only signal to the government that beyond paying taxes, Ugandans are willing to keep stumping up cash for short-term fixes.

It's also worth remembering that all of this happened – the breakdown, the outrage, the calls for donations – just a week after the IMF warned the Ugandan government about diverting money meant for social services into "unaccountable sectors", such as security details and election campaigns.

— Pru Nyamishana (@nyapru1)April 10, 2016

Tear gas tanks arrived in time for elections but procurement of cancer equipment, "We are in talks with the Ministry of Finance" #SaveMulago

In addition, last Friday the Ugandan parliament approved an extra budget worth billions of shillings to president Yoweri Museveni after it emerged he had exhausted his allotted funds for the 2015/16 financial year on his recent presidential campaign.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/12/uganda-mulago-radiotherapy-machine-crowdfunding

Sincerely,

Brian M. Kwesiga